Educated by Tara Westover
CW: misogyny, gaslighting, violence, psychological & physical & spiritual abuse, child abuse, use of N-word by family member
I have to thank Westover for writing this memoir. It must have taken her a lot of courage to relive everything and share her own life story with the world.
Every Grain of Sand: A Memoir by David P. Wichman with Heather Ebert
TW: This book contains contents of child abuse, child molesting, alcohol and drug addictions.
Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
This is hands down one of the best books on US race relations I have ever read. Also one of the best books I have ever read, period.
Over the Top: A Raw Journey to Self-Love by Jonathan Van Ness
Trigger warning: this book contains discussions on sexual abuse and addiction issues.
JVN, thank you for being so honest with the readers in this incredible memoir (and for being the beautiful human you are).
Forty Autumns: A Family’s Story of Courage and Survival on Both Sides of the Berlin Wall by Nina Willner
This book is amazing! Written as a memoir and unlike historic textbooks, Nina gave her readers an insight of what life in East Germany was like with an intimate approach. We follow her family story as her mother, Hanna, fled East Germany in hopes of being free, and how Oma and the others dealt with their life behind the Iron Curtains. The book is very sad and depressing but has a happy ending. I cannot recall how many times I’ve cried reading on subways, in coffee shops, and once on a plane over East China Sea. Forty Autumns is emotionally compelling and very enthralling. All the personal stories of Nina’s family members were all very dramatic, making the book even more interesting than plain memoirs.